Metro to Restart Use of Automatic Train Mode After Crash

For the first time since a deadly crash, Metro will restart use of an automatic train mode. News4's Adam Tuss reports.

(Published Monday, Oct. 15, 2018)

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld says riders are officially declaring that the transit system is in "good" condition, and he is eyeing much bigger things to improve service within the next year.

In an exclusive interview with News4, Wiedefeld promised that in 2019, Metro’s entire fleet of trains will return to a computer-controlled automatic mode during rush hours for the first time since the deadly 2009 Red Line crash that killed nine people near the Fort Totten station.

"We are very comfortable. Obviously we wouldn’t do it unless we were comfortable. We will be rolling with it pretty soon," Wiedefeld said Monday.

Metro’s Automatic Train Control system was blamed for the crash that killed nine people in 2009. That system lost sight of one train as it approached another from behind.